Kate was last to arrive on the red carpet at the Royal Albert Hall but all eyes were on the Duchess in her elegant blue Jenny Packham dress.

William and Prince Harry showed they were neither shaken nor stirred but looked sharp in their tuxedos - the outfit of choice for 007s past and present.

As they stepped from their chauffeur driven Bentley waiting to greet them were the movies' co-producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson and director Sam Mendes.

The stars of the movie had arrived before the royals made an appearance with Daniel Craig and his wife Rachel Weisz leading the list of celebrities.

The were followed by the film's baddie Christoph Waltz, Monica Bellucci, Ralph Fiennes and Sam Smith who has recorded the movie's theme song.

Inside the Royal Albert Hall there was a long line of cast and crew waiting to greet the royals and they spent their time walking down the line talking to everyone.

Harry made a point of greeting the partners of the stars who stood behind the famous faces.

When he came to Craig he put his hands on his shoulders as if measuring for himself how big the actor had become for the role and the performer smiled at the gesture.

All three royals were taken by a little boy Max Vasadi dressed in a suit, whose grandmother is a trustee of one of the organisations benefiting from the event, who presented a posey to the duchess.

William and Kate crouched down to speak to the boy and his mother Sam Bennett, who worked on the marketing of the movie, said: "William was saying how smart he looked and was asking him where he got his trainers."

William, Kate and Harry were representing the Queen at the premiere as she is patron of the CTBF (Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund) which will benefit from the proceeds raised by the royal event.

The trio were offered the chance to nominate two other organisations to receive funds and put forward Save The Children and ShelterBox, which provides emergency supplies and shelter in disaster areas.

A Kensington Palace spokesman said: "They wanted to acknowledge the work of Save The Children helping families fleeing the conflict in Syria and ShelterBox which did work in Nepal during the earthquake."

The royal trio attended a brief reception where they met staff and senior figures from the three organisations benefiting from the premiere.

"I'm looking forward to a good evening tonight," Kate, 33, said as she met Stan Fishman, who has served as a CTBF trustee for 20 years.

Alison Wallace, chief executive of ShelterBox, said: "For a small organisation like ShelterBox, this is a wonderful opportunity to raise our profile and, of course, funds. The Duchess of Cornwall is our president so I think their royal highnesses might have heard about our work from her."